Thursday, 17 January 2013

Sinn Féin councillor John Brady has reacted angrily to a letter thathas been posted to a number of media outlets in Wicklow and to atleast one school and to other public representatives. The vulgarletter which claims to be from Little Bray Residents objects to theflood protection scheme on the Dargle River and claims councillorBrady is the guest speaker at a protest on 26th January to oppose thescheme.

Cllr Brady speaking after a tip off from a local school said "OnMonday last i was contacted by the principle of a Bray school whoreceived a copy of this very vulgar letter in the post. The principlebrought it to my attention because they were so concerned about thecontent of it and the fact that my name was attached to it. Iimmediately got a copy of the letter and i am truly appalled at itscontent and i am very angry that my good name has been included on theletter which claims to be from the Little Bray Residents. The letterstrongly objects to the ongoing never ending works on the riverDargle, however it is not signed by anyone or no contact details aregiven. The letter goes onto to name other locals in Little Bray andclaims there is a protest on the 26th January to oppose the works andthat i am the guest speaker. Since Monday i have been informed thatthe letter has also been posted to some media outlets within Wicklowand to some of the TD's"

Cllr Brady continued "Firstly it has to be said that i am fullysupportive of the Dargle River flood protection scheme havingcampaigned and worked tirelessly for many years to get it to the stageits at. I have also worked with campaign group SWAP and the communityof Little Bray to ensure that the scheme is done to the highest ofstandards which will ensure the people of Little Bray are protectedfrom the risk of flooding. Secondly i am not aware of any group inBray, particularly from the Little Bray area that is campaigningagainst the scheme and certainly i have never been asked or indeed norwould i agree to speak at a protest to stop the works on the Dargle.There are some concerns from local people about elements of the worksuch as noise from trucks at night time, the height of the wall in thePeoples Park and the width of footpaths. However i am working with theofficials from the council and engineers from SIAC to have theseissues addressed"

Cllr Brady went onto say "I have spoken to many constituents, friends,family and supporters from the Dargle area who are also puzzled bythis bizarre letter and they are also unaware of its origin and theyare also appalled at its vulgar content and certainly don't agree withits content. It is quite clear that whoever was behind this letterdoes not enjoy the support of the community which it claims to comefrom, nor does it have any support from me or Sinn Féin and i totallydisassociate myself from it".

Cllr Brady concluded "I am taking the sending out of this letter withmy name on it very serious. It appears that someone for some reason,whether its politically motivated or not is trying to bring my goodname into disrepute. They have gone to some effort typing out thisletter, handwriting envelopes and posting out these letters, howeverthey are very cowardly as they would not put their name to it. I havetaken legal advice on the matter and i will get to the bottom of whosent these out and i urge anyone, any group or organisation who mayhave received one of these letters to please contact myself and toignore the fabricated non existent protest that is advertised for the26th January"